


Lost.

by Elit3



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Fever, Hurt CT-7567 | Rex, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mando'a Language (Star Wars), Protective Anakin Skywalker, Protective CT-7567 | Rex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28923846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elit3/pseuds/Elit3
Summary: After another crash, Anakin, Rex and R2-D2 got stuck on an unknown planet, time is running against them, especially when the natives are not really friendly.
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 32





	Lost.

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't ship them together, you can imagine that they are just friends. 
> 
> I hope that this fic will finaly be uploaded because each times that I tried to upload it either AO3 crash or it was my computer, idk but it's not funny anymore. This is like the sixth this day, I hope that it will work this time.

Anakin skywalker thought his head was going to explode. The Jedi knight was used to this feeling since he had an unfortunate habit of crashing his spaceships. His former Jedi master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, found it was an unfortunate habit for him to break everything, but Anakin, for his part, found that he was becoming more and more proficient in forced landings. Not to mention that he was beginning to pass the habit on to his padawan, Ashoka Tano. The two paired up to crash ships, so much so that the clones were starting to dread flying with them. As if it was their fault if the separatists liked to shoot them!

Nevertheless, the General of the Grand Army of the Republic did not recognize his environment. First, he was not in his ship, second, he was lying on rocky ground, and third, his wounds had been healed.

Anakin was confused for several seconds before he mentally reconstructed the last events. Obi-Wan had sent him on an undercover mission to retrieve data on the separatists. On that side, the mission had been a resounding success as he managed to recover the data without causing any damage. But it was on his return that things got more complicated: droid ships had spotted him and pursued him. Those piles of bolts had managed to hit his ship from where the forced landing on this unknown planet. The data! Was it still in the ship where it had been destroyed? Unless the separatists got their hands on it?

Then it hit him. The data was not on the ship, he had given it to someone. Anakin clearly remembers giving the card to someone. But who was with him? Ashoka or Obi-Wan. No, Obi-Wan and the 212th had been sent on a mission to a planet in the Outer Rim, and the council had sent Ashoka with Master Plo-Kun and Wolffe's squadron for negotiations. The identity of his mysterious companion could only be another Jedi the council would have seen fit to send with Anakin or, the simplest solution, he would have taken a clone with him. This means Rex was with him, only his captain would have been allowed to come with him - unless Rex had left as reinforcement for the 212th.

Anakin slowly got up because of the pain in his head, the pain gave him flashbacks to the mission he had done with Aalaya Secura, Ashoka, Rex, and Bly. He touched his belt to feel that his lightsaber was still in the same place. Once seated, he scanned his surroundings. He was in a cave apparently, a fire had been lit but only embers remained, a clone emergency kit was on the ground with bandages pulled out from the kit.

So it was a clone that was with him.

Before he could visually analyze the entire cave, a noise echoed inside and a light came on. The Jedi was about to ignite his lightsaber when the thing sounded again and the light went out. The thing approached Anakin and he let it be since he had recognized his astro-mech.

“Artoo! Force, thank you. Hold on… say it again. "

Anakin took a deep breath to focus on what the frightened droid was trying to tell him.

"I remember the crash, but what happened? Did you get me out of there? "

Artoo answered him in binary number which the Jedi had no trouble translating.

Captain Rex had accompanied him on his mission.

The crash had taken place two days ago.

The ship had caught fire, Anakin was still unconscious so Rex had to get him out of there.

The clone transported them here, covered up their tracks, started a fire, and took care of the Jedi Knight.

"Where's Rex now?" 

Artoo quickly explained to him: They ran out of water because Rex had used it mainly to heal Anakin and he had gone to fill their gourds at a stream an hour from here. 

“Thanks, buddy. Do you know if Rex will be back soon? "

The Jedi stood up quickly when he saw what his astro-mech had just shown him: Rex was hidden behind a fallen tree, with a blaster in his hand and his other wrist towards his face.

"The natives are on me, I will try to drive them away, I will try to contact you later, stay there, and protect the General. Rex, out. "

Anakin fought back nausea and walked towards the cave entrance.

"Take me to Rex's last where abouts point, we'll try to find him from there, Rex's probably fine but I want to make sure. I bet you an oil bath that escaped them before the locals could touch him. What? Rex is hurt? Why didn't you tell me before? "

Artoo made a sorry little noise.

“No, it’s not your fault." The Jedi began to walk, the more he breathed the fresh air of the planet the better he felt. “He should have stayed and waited until I woke up before he left. Do you know the extent of his injuries? "

His astro-mech told him he had seen the clone limp and had trouble breathing. Anakin shook his head at his captain's behavior. He wouldn't forgive himself if Rex had died to heal him.

The more the Jedi ran towards the position and the more exhausted he got, he wasn't as recovered as he thought. Luckily Artoo had foreseen the blow and handed him one of Captain Rex's adrenaline shots, he had seen the clones use it but had never used it until today. He went even faster than before and in about thirty minutes he reached the water point. The problem was, Rex was out of sight, although a fight had clearly taken place.

The noise echoed in his mind before echoing through the clearing, the Jedi knight tackling the newcomer with the force but loosening his grip upon seeing an old lady instead of a mercenary as he expected. The gray-haired old lady struggled to her feet and Anakin helped her. 

“I'm sorry, madam. It was not you that I was looking for or that I wanted to hurt. "

The old lady laughed. "It's alright. My bones may be old, but they're strong. Excuse my curiosity, young man, but who are you looking for in this forest? She hasn't been inhabited by talkative beings like you and me for years now. "

" I'm looking for a … friend. I know he was supposed to come here but I can't find him. "

" Oh yes. Now that you say so. Several people were here earlier. "

"Did you see what happened ?! "

"My eyes are not as good as yours, but I might have caught a glimpse of something. "

“Stop with your enigma! My friend is in danger of death. He is my size and wears white armor and a helmet with blue paint on it. If you haven't seen anything then let me through, I must find him before the people who are after him do! "

"And me who thought the Jedi endowed with patient ..." Anakin looked at the old lady sheepishly. "Those days must be over ... But if your friend is the clone who has so kindly helped me, then I can help you find him. "

Anakin was relieved: “Thank you! Your help will be invaluable. "

"Make no mistake, your friend has been battling formidable enemies who have dared to enter my forest for years, I have no doubts about his abilities but alone and wounded man has little chance of winning against them." The old woman used the cane she was using to walk and fell the end of the cane against one of the vines of a tree, these turned blue and seemed to indicate a path. "Follow the vines, they will lead you to your man. "

The Jedi knight thanked the lady even though he blushed when she called Rex as is man, and then he and Artoo ran in the direction indicated. The two stopped after 10 minutes of frantic running and they had to stop when they heard a cry of pain. The General quietly approached what looked like a camp and saw his Captain surrounded by a dozen men. Rex looked badly by lying on the ground and his bare face showed white, sweaty skin, Rex's skin paled, even more, when a man put pressure on the clone's leg.

"We saw the ship crash and we know you have at least one other mate. I won't say it again: Where is he? "

"This is not how you will make me talk, Nar’sheb." Rex's words, though brave, trembled in pain.

"But he's still got some respondent. Maybe the larva will calm him down. "

Two henchmen arrived with a box each, inside there was a large larva. A man approached Rex with a larva in his hand, he was wearing gloves.

"I'll give you one last chance to tell me what I want to hear: where are your companions?" "

The man with the gloves brought the larva closer and closer to the Captain's face. Anakin emerged from his hiding place and stood at the top of an embankment to be heard by all.

" Behind you!" All the men in the camp turned to him. "I'm giving you a chance, let him go and I won't kill you. "

Despite his warning, the group leader did not listen to him and ordered his men to attack Anakin. The latter did his best not to kill the men, but when they approached him with their blasters and swords, he had no choice but to defend himself. In his line of sight, he saw Rex kick the man with the gloves on to push the larva away from him.

"Artoo, go help, Rex!" 

The droid hastened to obey to help the captain who was trying to fight two men.

Anakin quickly finished with his attackers and he went to rescue his Captain and his astro-mech. He stabbed his lightsaber into the chest of the man above Rex who was trying to stick his knife into the Clone's throat. Anakin used the force to free the dead man from Rex.

"Have you finally decided to join in the party, sir?" 

"I almost missed the invitation but I wouldn't have liked to miss this little party. " 

The Jedi extended his hand of flesh to his Captain who took the hand without hesitation. He picked up the injured man with little effort but had to catch up with him because Rex's legs didn't seem to want to hold him up. Anakin quickly understood the situation when he saw the blood staining Rex's right thigh.

"Any other injuries I should be aware of? "

“I-I don't think so." Rex was struggling hard not to fall unconscious and Anakin was gaining more and more weight. “To be honest, I'm not feeling much right now, other than the cold. "

Anakin softly touched the Captain's cheek with his flesh hand and he was sure that even his mechanical hand could have felt the warmth emanating from Rex's cheek.

"You are in no condition to walk." Anakin released his hold on the clone to stand in front of him, Artoo was behind the clone to hold him upright, and the Jedi shifted to a crouching half position. "Come on, climb, I'll carry you." 

“It’s against protocol." Rex declared as he obeyed the request as he climbed onto his General's back.

"Don't say it like that, it makes you look like Cody." Rex growled and Anakin laughed as he started to walk. "Plus, I wouldn't have to carry you if you'd taken care of yourself instead of just me. "

“You are more important, General." Rex's voice seemed to come from afar as if the clone was on the verge of exhaustion.

“Not in my eyes." Anakin didn't get a response and he realized that Rex had fallen unconscious. "Come on, buddy, we need to get Rex back to camp. Shall we race? "

The Jedi won the race although he didn't take the time to enjoy his victory - he had to take care of Rex. On the way, Rex had started to whisper incomprehensible things. Anakin put his Captain on what had been his bed until now. The skin of the clone was really too white, except for his cheeks which were pink and the sweat beaded his forehead. As he removed Rex's armor to make him more comfortable, he felt the heat behind him and when he turned around he saw that Artoo had started the fire. As he removed the rest of the clone's armor, Anakin noticed the dark purple bruises on the clone's ribs, as well as what looked like a fractured left wrist. The Jedi internally cursed the temerity of his captain. He then removed the entire bottom armor and checked the bleeding wound on Rex's thigh.

Apparently, the stitches on his own wound had opened during his fight with the natives. Problem is, the gash appeared to be infected, hence the fever that had gripped Rex.

"Great…" Anakin ran his hand through his hair. "Ok, Artoo, what's left medically? "

The news was not good, the medical supply was half-depleted and the medical part of the ship had burned down. Artoo asked him what he was going to do next and Anakin didn't know what to say.

"It's been two days, hasn't it? So Obi-Wan or Ashoka will find us ... well I hope. "

Anakin looked at Rex's leg unsure of what to do, he wasn't sure if putting on antiseptic and stitching up would be enough. If Rex's situation worsened then he would have to cauterize the wound with his lightsaber and he was not happy at the thought. He was about to use the antiseptic when a voice reached him from outside.

"Jedi Master? May I come in? "

The old lady from earlier was standing in front of the cave and the Jedi thought to himself that this lady must be more powerful than she appeared to be. 

"Ah, so this is where you were hiding." The native walked into the cave and looked at Anakin who still held the antiseptic in his hand. "What are you planning to do with this? wet his leg? "

“It’s an antiseptic. His leg is infected. "

“Let me see this. Go move, hop hop. "

Anakin did as he was asked, but he remained close to his captain.

"Tatata it's not good, not good at all. "

" You are a doctor? can you help him? "

"I am just a humble healer, plants help me heal my patients. I can get his fever down, but first I'm going to have to do something he might not like or you might like. "  
Anakin looked the old lady in the eyes and the force whispered that he could trust her. “Do what you have to do. My name is Anakin, he is Rex and my mate behind me is Artoo. "

“You can call me Cathara. All right, young man, you're going to have to keep your friend down. "

Once again, the Jedi obeys Cathara's orders. He knelt in front of Rex's head and leaned down to hold the captain's shoulders.

"It's going to be fine, Rex, you're going to be fine. Do it. "

He watched as the old lady reopened all the stitches with a knife, with the same knife, Cathara tampered with the clone's leg to remove what looked like stinks. Unable to watch this show, Anakin looked at Rex's face which was twisted in pain. The Captain's good leg rose up and he tried to pull Cathara's grip off his injured leg. 

« G-general… p-lease… he-lp. » 

Never before had Anakin heard his Captain begging and those words tore his heart.

“Cathara! Stop! it won't work like that! "

"It is a necessary evil, young man. I have to go even further because small pieces of metal are still stuck in your friend's leg. "

“I know… but that position only makes it worse. Give me two seconds." The Jedi Knight sat down on the stony ground, then hugged Rex to hold him against his chest and used his leg to hold the Clone's good leg against the ground. "It's okay, you can start over. "

In this position, Anakin could feel the heat of Rex's body and he was even more determined to let Cathara finish. Even so, Rex's crying to stop this torture tore his heart. He didn't like to see or hear his loved ones in pain.

After a few minutes, the old lady was done and she put the stitches on-again, applied some kind of green smelly cream, and put a bandage made of leaves on the Clone's leg. Cathara motioned for him to continue holding Rex as she checked for bruises on the Captain's ribcage where she replaced green cream and bandages. 

Finally, she ended up on Rex's injured wrist and made a splint specifying that the wrist was only sprained.

“You can let him rest now. He will need it. "

Anakin let Rex sleep on the makeshift bed.

"General ..."

"Shh, it's okay Rex, I am here." Once Anakin managed to reassure the feverish clone, he turned to the old lady, "Thank you, madam. I don't know what we would have done without you. "

" It's nothing. But I haven't finished my work here yet, let me see your injury. "

The Jedi let her remove the bandage Rex had applied to his head and she had put the green cream on the gash on his forehead.

"Why are you helping us? " 

"Your friend helped me when he didn't have to and you fought those who threatened my forest. It's as simple as that. "

"If Rex was awake he would tell you it was his duty. "

Cathara shrugged before deciding that Rex had done a good job for his General's injury, even though she tell him to take the potion as well or, otherwise, the headhache will come back. She handed him their water bottles, along with a potion to lower Rex's temperature and something to eat.

After a few hours, the night began to fall, in the cave a pile of wood had been placed near the fire and the Jedi had plugged the hole of the cave with a rock to maintain the temperature of the room. Only the small ventilation spaces prevent the smoke from clumping into the cave. Rex's condition had worsened, his fever had increased, and the clone seemed to be having nightmares. The Captain repeated the names of dead soldiers but also those of still living clones: Echo, Fives, Jesse, Kix, Cody or Wolffe. But Anakin also heard his name repeated several times, as well as that of Ahsoka.

Right now Rex seemed to be stuck on his own number and Anakin wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. His droid had been extinguished for the night, apparently, he was starting to run out of battery.

Anakin wanted to stay up all night to make sure Rex was okay, but he knew he had to sleep to support the injured Captain. To sleep, he decided to stand behind Rex to keep the Clone's back warm while the rest of Rex's body was warmed by the fire. When he was installed, the General was scared when he felt Rex turn away, but the Clone had only turned so that his head was against Anakin's chest.

“You have to fight, Captain." The Jedi whispered into his clone's ear. "Don't let the infection win… the 501st needs you, Ahsoka needs you, I need you. Because I won't be able to find a replacement for you. So you're going to wake up and in two days we'll be on the battlefield destroying lots of Seps until we win this damn war and then you and I we’ll go on vacation."

The two slept all night in this position, although Anakin got up twice to give Rex Cathara's position and to fuel the fire.

The next day the Jedi started to get scared, feeling that Rex's fever hadn't gone down, but the fever at least had the merit of staying at the same temperature. He opened the cave door again and went to get some wood, on the way, Cathara came to him and Anakin helped him carry the tub of water she had brought with her.

That afternoon, he left Rex with the old lady while he and Artoo went to the rest of the ship. Anakin wanted to send a call for help with his secret code for the Republic Fleet to send someone, the Republic had to find them or the General would lose his Captain and that was out of the question.

Once at the ship, Artoo told him that the ship had run out of energy and that it would only be possible to send one S.O.S. Anakin nodded knowing that was their only hope. The ship struggled to send the message and when it did, all devices shut down.

He and Artoo returned to camp but on the way, his droid died out since it had run out of battery. Not wanting to abandon his friend here, Anakin carried him to their camp. But he had to release Artoo when he heard screams coming from the camp. He watched, incredulous and angry, that the locals had found their hiding place. His monsters had even dared to move Rex who was held by two men. Cathara was in the middle of the circle formed by the natives.

" Chief? What do we do with the human? "

" Kill him. In view of his condition, he is useless, besides he is the one who killed the others. "

Anakin let his instincts take over and he jumped right in the middle of the group, he used the force to push them all back and Rex fell to the ground, inert.

"I killed them. Be smarter than them and go."

Fortunately, these men had a stronger survival instinct than their companions and they fled in their speeder.

“Rex!" Anakin rushed over to his captain and turned him around so he could lie on his back.

"Gen… g-general…?" "

“Hey, don't talk, ok? You have to keep your strength, it's an order. "

"Do you think they'll be okay, sir?"

Anakin didn't understand what was he meant until he saw where Rex was looking: space.

“Yes, they will be fine. We will make sure of it. "

"Sorry..."

“Rex? Rex! Cathara !? He ain't breathing!" The old lady approached the two men and Anakin looked at her with wide eyes. "You must save him, I beg you!" 

"I can't ... it's too late ... the forest has claimed him ..."

"No! It's not the end! It's not how it supposed to end! It's impossible… not now! Not like that!"

Sobs ripped through Anakin's body as he did a heart massage at the same time. He didn't want to lose his captain, either because of an infection or because Rex had asserted Anakin's needs above his own. 

“You have to let him go. "

" No ! There must be… adrenaline! "

The general ran as fast as possible into the cave and rummaged through Rex's survival kit. He found the adrenaline stick, the last one, and hurried back outside. Anakin planted the syringe in Rex's heart and prayed it would work. He waited three seconds before realizing it wasn't working.

"As a Jedi, you should know that the dead are always there…" Cathara tried to comfort him.

" NO ! Wake up ! Trooper!" Anakin thumped Rex in the chest where the captain's heart was. "Wake!" Another blow. “Up!" At the last word, Anakin punched so hard he thought he had destroyed the captain's rib cage, especially when he felt the scent of the force accompany his movement.

But the result was immediate, Rex's heart returned, his eyes opened and shock forced him to sit up as he coughed violently. Anakin was at his side in the blink of an eye to support him. Finally, the cough stopped and Rex fell back to sleep in his General's arms.

Anakin was still shocked at what had just happened but the beating heart under his hand proved that Rex's heart had indeed returned.

" You did it! Well done, young man, your punches combined with the injection of adrenaline got his heart beating back. Without you, he would have died. "

Anakin allowed himself to relax a bit knowing that so far everything was going pretty well. Except that Artoo had run out of battery, the ship was completely useless, and Rex had just come close to death, not to mention that the Republic had not yet come to get them.

But then he heard them: those engines sounds he would recognize anywhere. The General looked up at the sky and smiled.

“It's going to be fine, Rex. We're going back home. "

Anakin tightened his arms around the sleeping man as the Republic gunboats landed a few miles away.

"Now that your friends are here, I'm going to have to go. Take care of yourself, Jedi, and your friend, if this how the younth of todays call that. "

Anakin blushed because of the remark. “Thanks, Cathara, we couldn't have done it without you. "

The old lady winked at him and Anakin shook his head in front of his strange ally.

The clones arrive in no time and the Jedi was not surprised to see Master Plo-Kun leading them. The markings on the gunboats were fairly representative of the Jedi master's troops.

"It's good to see you again, master. "

"Skywalker what state have you got into this time?" 

The young man smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.

"Would you believe me if I told you it wasn't my fault?" He turned away from the Jedi to look at the commander who despite his helmet seemed to be looking towards Rex. "I have a man on the ground, he will need a stretcher. "

Wolffe nodded before ordering two of his subordinates to fetch a stretcher from one of the gunboats. 

"General Skywalker? Where's the Captain's armor?" Wolffe asked.

"I had to take it off him, but it's intact in the cave." Anakin pointed at the cave and asked Boost to go get it.

Quickly, the two clones were back with the stretcher, and Anakin, helped by Wolffe, put Rex on the stretcher. The General was unhappy to leave his clone behind after what had just happened but he left Rex in good hands. After all, he still had a job to do here.

The Jedi motioned for two more clones to come with him and he felt Master Plo Koon be on his trail. The four of them made their way to where Anakin had abandoned Artoo. The young Jedi easily opened Artoo's compartment where the droid had stored the data key. Then he motioned for the two clones to lead the unloaded droids towards the gunboats.

“The data were safe in Artoo. Rex put it in so the data wouldn't be degraded or to prevent the natives to get their hands on it. "

“Your captain did a good job. "

Anakin nodded, he could only agree with that statement. The two Jedis and the two clones joined the gunboats. And Anakin was surprised to see Rex awake. He still looked weak and feverish in the stretcher, but a thick blanket covered him and an oxygen mask had been put on his face. The Jedi can hear the end of the conversation between the captain and the commander.

“… Or’dinii." Wolffe finished.

The insult made Rex chuckle weakly, and replied, "You know why I had to do that, besides you would have done the same thing. "

The commander didn't answer but just looked at his subordinate, Anakin could see the warm look Wolffe gave Rex although the latter kept a neutral face. Rex slowly raised his good arm with the palm up and Wolffe took it without hesitation, the handshake is the same as that of two men about to do an arm wrestling but here it was a promise.

“I see you on the battlefield, Ori’vod," Rex whispered before his last energy left his body and he fell unconscious again.

Wolffe let go of his brother's hand and rested it gently against the injured man's side : "Count me in, vod'ika." Then, the commander motioned for the clone medic to put Rex on the gunboat, he put his helmet back on before heading towards the two Jedi to let them know they were ready to go. Anakin and Plo Kloon then split up to each join their respective starship, Anakin must surely have a new mission and the Jedi Master must return to Coruscant.

They were on their way to the Resolute when Anakin saw Rex stir in his sleep. The General put back the blanket to keep his Captain from getting any colder.  
He looked at Rex's face and sighed in relief knowing that this was not the end yet. After all, the war was not over yet and Anakin Skywalker could not see himself winning it without Captain Rex at his side.

**Author's Note:**

> Vod'ika : Little brother  
> Ori'vod : big brother.  
> Nar'sheb : Pejorative mando'a expression emphasizing disdain for an interlocutor.  
> Or'dinii : moron, fool.
> 
> Btw, i'm not doctor and I don't if what Anakin did would really work on not but it seemed poethic at the time. Oh, and it is not the "force healing" or something like that saved Rex, as Cathara said it's the shot of adrenaline and the punches that make Rex's heart beat again and not the force. The scene was only more poethic with the force added, nothing more.


End file.
